The present invention provides method and apparatus for forming a collapsible trap for trapping and exterminating flying insects, particularly Gypsy moths.
Gypsy moths are now the most destructive defoliant of hardwood trees in the Northeastern United States. As reported in the New York Times on Oct. 19, 1980, Gypsy moths defoliated a record 5.1 million acres from Maine to Maryland in 1980, causing fifteen times more destruction than in the previous year. It appears that in 1981 the defoliation resulting from these insects was even more widespread and damaging.
A major use of devices for trapping and destroying flying insects, and particularly Gypsy moths, in addition to reducing the incidence of the pest is to aid experts in detecting and estimating the numbers of future populations. Presently, state and Federal agencies deploy Gypsy moth survey traps in a regularized spacing pattern over large areas of land often encompassing several states.
Many traps must be transported by a single person and often into remote areas. Thus, there is advantage to traps that fold into a minimum volume.
Known apparatus currently on the market for trapping Gypsy moths are produced by both the USDA and also by Herculite Products, Inc. of New York. These traps are formed from an opaque milk-carton-shaped housing having a square cross section with a flat bottom and window openings defined in the vertical sidewalls of the housing. A separate peripheral skirt or shade rim including a plurality of inwardly projecting tabs is mounted on the housing above the window openings by inserting the tabs on the shade into corresponding slots provided in the sidewalls of the housing above the windows.
This known "milk carton" type of trap is manufactured, shipped and stored in its three-dimensional configuration, creating difficulties and incurring considerable costs in transporting and storage of such traps. That is, each trap is hollow, i.e., surrounds an enclosed volume of air, and thus it occupies a relatively large volume making it expensive to transport and store large numbers of such traps at the same time. Because the tops of the traps are closed, the housings cannot be stacked or nested. Moreover,
the hollow "milk carton" housings and the corresponding shade rims to be mounted thereon are separate pieces. Thus, the separate shad rims must also be transported and stored together with the housings, further compounding the transportation and storage problems of these known traps. The "milk carton" can be obtained from the manufacturer with the ends unsealed which allows the container part of the trap to be collapsed into a flattened configuration. Additional fasteners such as staples or tape are required to close the ends and set up the trap. In all variations of the "milk carton" trap, insects are difficult to remove.
A Gypsy moth trap manufactured by the J. T. Baker Chemical Co. and sold under the trademark "Bag-A-Bug" provides an advantageous method and apparatus for trapping flying insects exhibiting phototropic behavior. This trap is manufactured in a hollow three-dimensional configuration, and is shipped and stored in that configuration. Moreover, the housing can be formed from separate upper and lower housing sections adapted to be joined together during assembly.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for forming a collapsible trap for trapping flying insects in a housing formed from a single, integral sheet of stiffly flexible material which can be folded into a flat collapsed configuration to advantageously facilitate shipping and storage by reducing the volume occupied by each trap to an absolute minimum. Subsequently, during set-up of the trap, it can be readily and quickly assembled into a three-dimensional housing surrounding an enclosure without the need to assemble together different, separate components. As such, the new trap eliminates both the transportation and storage difficulties of the aforementioned apparatus and provides a toggle-close mechanism whereby trapped insects are easily removed.